Terror No More | Psalm 10

Intro

The Sioux Falls Police Department is currently spending $50,000 on a campaign to remind you to lock your car. That’s because the number of stolen vehicles in Sioux Falls is skyrocketing. Police investigated 1,361 reports of stolen cars in 2022, which averages out to 3 stolen vehicles per day. That’s up nearly 80% from 2019. At the end of June, there were 26 stolen vehicles in a single week in Sioux Falls. And most of these stolen vehicles were unlocked.

When I moved to Sioux Falls from New Jersey, I could not believe that people left their cars running in the parking lot, left their front doors unlocked, and didn’t use bike locks. Today, Sioux Falls is a different place. Sadly, it’s not just stolen vehicles. Violent crime in Sioux Falls has increased nearly 50% over the last 10 years. And that’s just local crime! I’m sure you don’t need me to catalog examples of national crime and corruption.

Do those trends concern you like they concern me? Do you feel powerless when you hear of rising crime and rampant corruption? As a Christian, you have access to the greatest possible source of help. Psalm 10 teaches us how to pray when we are surrounded by evil.

“Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. For the wicked boasts of the desires of his soul, and the one greedy for gain curses and renounces the LORD. In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.” His ways prosper at all times; your judgments are on high, out of his sight; as for all his foes, he puffs at them. He says in his heart, “I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.” His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he murders the innocent. His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless; he lurks in ambush like a lion in his thicket; he lurks that he may seize the poor; he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net. The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might. He says in his heart, “God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it.” Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands; to you the helpless commits himself; you have been the helper of the fatherless. Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none. The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land. O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.”

—Psalm 10

Keeping Your Faith

Psalm 1 begins with a question—the question we always ask when we encounter evil: “Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?” (Psalm 10:1, emphasis added).

One of the most distressing discrepancies of life in this fallen world is the apparent pain-free prosperity of the wicked. We believe that God is righteous and sovereign over history. But those involved in crime and corruption often look like they are succeeding.

So David asks out loud what God’s people wonder whenever violence increases. Why doesn’t God act more swiftly? Why does God seem to stand far off? 

When the wicked prosper with no fear of punishment and conquer without consequence, it looks like God is absent. And that threatens to shake our faith.

Psalm 10 is a gift to God’s people for such times. It assures us that even though the violent prosper, God will call them to account. To persevere in faith in this crime-ridden world, you must be convinced of that. And Psalm 10 shows you how to fight for faith when it doesn’t look like that’s true.

So how can you keep your faith when corruption and crime increase? Psalm 10 models three responses: 1) tell God about evil; 2) ask God for justice; 3) trust God to act.

Tell God about Evil

David begins by pleading his case against the wicked before God. He describes in detail both the evil that he sees. David speaks of “the wicked” five separate times (vv. 2, 3, 4, 13, 15). In verse 15 they are called evildoers (v. 15). He also grieves for their victims—the poor and afflicted (vv. 2, 9, 12), the innocent (v. 8), the helpless (v. 8, 10), the fatherless (v. 18), and the oppressed (v. 18).

Our society tends to view criminals as sick people in need of rehabilitation. But Scripture views human beings as responsible moral agents. Each person deserves either protection or punishment.

David provides a three-dimensional profile of the wicked, describing their motives, their crimes, and the apparent outcome of their ways.

More than anything else, the most prominent attribute of the wicked is his pride. “In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor” (v. 2). “The wicked boasts of the desires of his soul” (v. 3). “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him” (v. 4). The Hebrew simply says that in pride the wicked does not inquire. Period. It’s not only that he doesn’t inquire of God; he doesn’t inquire of anyone at all.  He’s not concerned about right and wrong, good and bad, legal or illegal. He is a law unto himself. He asks permission of no one. He indulges all of his cravings whenever and however he pleases. He puffs at his foes (v. 5). That is, he sneers or scoffs at everyone in his way. Arrogant, boastful, greedy, and proud—such are the wicked.

And if pride is the driving motive of the wicked, violent crime is the visible fruit (vv. 7–11). They use their tongue as a weapon: “His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.” (Psalm 10:7). Violent oppressors are skilled talkers. They use words to cheat, to manipulate, to exploit, to groom their victims.

The wicked ambushes and murders the innocent in secret (v. 8) “His eyes stealthily watch for the helpless” (v. 8). Pretend like you're going to throw a dart. What do your eyes do as you aim? That’s the sense of this word. He takes aim at the helpless. Sets his sights on them.

He lurks, stalks like a lion, and seizes his prey (v. 9). These people overpower their victims by force: “The helpless are crushed, sink down, and fall by his might.” (Psalm 10:10). David is lamenting to God crimes of murder, robbery, assault—violent crimes and forcible felonies.

And the worst part is that it works. Wouldn’t you agree that the worst kind of crime is unsolved, unpunished crime? Crime is grievous, heinous, appalling. But when the wicked get away with it, innocent people live in fear and the wicked are emboldened. This is what David laments (vv. 5–6): “His ways prosper at all times …. He says in his heart, ‘I shall not be moved; throughout all generations I shall not meet adversity.’”

They say crime doesn’t pay. But human trafficking is a $150 billion global industry. Global drug trafficking is worth $652 billion annually—$150B in the U. S. alone. Identity theft: $50B. Retail theft: $100B. Porch pirates: $20B each year. Crime is lucrative and the wicked prosper.

So the wicked are arrogant, violent, and prosperous, but for those who treasure the glory of God, the greatest lament is that the wicked are godless. “All his thoughts are, ‘There is no God’” (v. 4). “Your judgments are on high, out of his sight” (v. 5). “He says in his heart, ‘God has forgotten, he has hidden his face, he will never see it’” (v. 11). “Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, ‘You will not call to account’?” (v. 13).

Notice the self-deception. In verse 4, the wicked says there is no God, but in verse 11 he says, “God has forgotten.” So which is it? Is there a God or is there not? In order to commit such atrocities, the wicked must sear their own consciences by convincing themselves there is no God, no cosmic justice, no final judgment.

So what do people living by faith do? Tell God about evil! Beloved, God is glorified when you grieve over wickedness and godlessness. Lamenting evil is an expression of delight in and longing for God’s righteousness. It is right for your heart to break in response to news of crime and corruption. The danger we face is that our hearts grow calloused and conditioned to bad news.

Do you lament the crime and corruption in our city and society? I know you disagree with it, but does it grieve you? We are finite, and none of us has the mental capacity or emotional bandwidth to pay attention to every atrocity. But when crime increases, God’s people grieve. Rising crime in our community has many causes; may the apathy and prayerlessness of God’s people not be one of them. Lament the evil that you see!

Ask God for Justice

David’s aim is not simply to tell God about the problem, but to ask God to do something.

The wicked thinks God has forgotten and won’t do anything (v. 11), but David prays, “Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted. Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, ‘You will not call to account’? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your hands” (Psalm 10:12–14).

It’s important to remember that the psalms are for singing and praying. The primary purpose of the psalms is not to be read or studied or even preached. They are written for God’s people to sing and pray (cf. Col 3:16, Eph 5:19).

So how does Psalm 10 teach us to pray in times of trouble? Look at verses 2 and 15: 

“In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.” 

—Psalm 10:2

“Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer; call his wickedness to account till you find none.”

—Psalm 10:15

These are prayers of imprecation. And imprecation means a spoken curse—not a curse like a profanity, and not like a witch’s spell or hex—but a covenantal curse. Along with his law, God gave sanctions—threatened penalties for disobedience. God promises blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. So the “imprecatory psalms” (literally, the “cursing psalms”) appeal to God to act according to his righteous character and his covenant promises.

But Christians have often struggled with the imprecatory psalms. Jesus taught, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matt 5:44). And Paul writes, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them” (Rom 12:14). As Christians, should we ever pray the imprecatory psalms?

Whenever we encounter apparent contradictions, it helps to ask when or in what sense? When or in what sense are we not to curse, and in what sense are we to curse?

Imprecatory psalms are like lethal force. Lethal force may only be used to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm. It is an extreme response for extreme circumstances. There is certainly a right and a wrong way to pray the imprecatory psalms.

The wrong way is to pray with personal animosity, bitterness, resentment, or vengeance. The imprecatory psalms are not prayers for personal revenge. You really must forgive those who wrong you, as God has forgiven you. You really must bless those who persecute you.

But like deadly force, the right way to pray imprecatory psalms is in cases of extreme injustice, violence, and evil, to hand justice over to God. Under normal circumstances, our prayer is that God would save the wicked. But there are times when it is appropriate to pray imprecations like Psalm 58: 

“O God, break the teeth in their mouths; tear out the fangs of the young lions, O LORD! Let them vanish like water that runs away; when he aims his arrows, let them be blunted.” 

—Psalm 58:6–7

Remember that the wicked is not the only character in Psalm 10. There is also the afflicted, the victim being oppressed and abused. Asking God to “break the arm of the wicked and evildoer” or “break the teeth in their mouths” is a just and godly way of praying for the deliverance of the afflicted. In such cases, we will either be soft toward the wicked and hard on the afflicted, or soft toward the afflicted and hard on the wicked. We live in a society primarily concerned with going easy on criminals. The result is a justice system that is cruel toward victims.

But David prays, “Arise, O LORD” (v. 12), asking God to judge the wicked. These are two sides of the same coin. Asking God to remember the afflicted (v. 12) is also asking God to thwart the wicked. Asking God to do justice to the oppressed (v. 18) means asking God to do whatever is necessary to stop the wicked from doing injustice. And we pray the same thing when we pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10), or, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Rev 22:20).

In Romans 12, right before Paul said, “Bless those who persecute you,” Paul wrote this: “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord’” (Rom 12:9). This is the appropriate use of the imprecatory psalms—refusing to take personal revenge, but leaving it instead to God’s wrath.

This is the example of Christ, to which Peter points suffering Christians: “When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly” (1 Peter 2:23). Praying imprecatory psalms is a way to entrust yourself to God. Jesus did not take it on himself to revile or threaten his abusers, but he did entrust himself to the Judge of the living and the dead. That means Jesus trusted by faith that God, the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, would judge the wicked. David says in verse 14, “To you the helpless commits himself.”

Do you know the first thing police officers do after using lethal force? They immediately provide medical aid and attempt to save the suspect. That’s because they acted, not out of personal animosity, but as a last resort.

And this is true of the imprecatory psalms. David prayed strong imprecations against Saul and Absalom, and yet he responded in great compassion and grief when his enemies fell. When David fled from Absalom, he prayed, “Arise, O LORD! Save me, O my God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked” (Psalm 3:7). But when David received word of Absalom’s death, 2 Samuel 18:33 says, “And the king was deeply moved and went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as he went, he said, ‘O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!’”

That is the evidence that David harbored no sinful bitterness, but entrusted himself to God. In that way, imprecatory psalms give us license and language to do the same.

Trust God to Act

After beginning with a question, pouring out his lament, and asking God for justice, David ends with resounding declarations of faith. He counters the godless unbelief of the wicked and steadies his doubting soul with truth: “The LORD is king forever and ever; the nations perish from his land” (Psalm 10:16).

This is the refuge the afflicted need, the bedrock for belief. This is not a hope of what could be; this is the present and permanent reality. The righteous King is on his heavenly throne, regardless of how bad things look.

In answer to the doubt from verse 1—Why do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself?—David professes his faith that God does, in fact, see and hear. “Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, “You will not call to account”? But you do see, for you note mischief and vexation …. O LORD, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear” (vv. 13–14, 17).

The only thing more horrifying than suffering is suffering alone—crying for help and no one is there to hear. But God’s attentiveness is a comfort to the afflicted.

Not only does God see and hear, but David is confident that God will act. “For you note mischief and vexation, that you may take it into your own hands” (v. 14). And, “You will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed” (vv. 17–18). Contrary to the doubts of the righteous and the hopes of the wicked, God does assert himself in history.

And when God acts, he cuts off evildoers: “that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more” (v. 18). David turns up the contrast between the LORD, who is king forever and ever, and “man who is of the earth.” The NIV renders it “mere earthly mortals.” Here is a reminder that God sets limits on every evildoer. Sooner or later, everyone will die. That includes powerful politicians skimming off millions of dollars of foreign aid and drug lords ruling billion dollar cartels. 

“It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” 

—Hebrews 9:27

You can rest assured that there will be no cold cases. 

But God also acts through the civil government. Paul says in Romans 13:3–4, “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. … But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”

In a society where people and their rulers fear God, the bad guys are supposed to live in terror. In a fallen world, terror is inescapable—not whether but which. Either the innocent will live in terror, or the wicked will live in terror. When we pray the imprecations of Psalm 10, we are asking God to do justice, to break the arm of the wicked, through God-appointed means on earth.

In June of 2021, my family was leaving a birthday party at Thunder Road. As we pulled up to a red light at 12th and Kiwanis, an SUV blew through the intersection speeding well over 100 MPH. It was moving so fast, it took my breath away. In God’s kindness, our light was red and we weren’t in the intersection. Moments later we saw an unmarked police vehicle in pursuit. The suspects in that SUV were wanted for a shooting. They were able to ditch the vehicle on the east side of Sioux Falls and duck into an apartment complex.

That night, I remember praying Psalm 10. I knew that police officers were putting their lives in danger to track down violent criminals—criminals willing to endanger the lives of innocent people to get away. Psalm 10 gave me language: “Let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised. … Break the arm of the wicked and evildoer. Call his wickedness to account.”

It turns out that God answered that prayer in a remarkably specific way. One of the guys who got away that night was later involved in multiple shootings. But a few months later, with police again in pursuit, he shot himself in the hand, and police were able to arrest him a week later. I don’t rejoice that he was injured but that he was caught, that he might strike terror no more. God does see, and he does act, and you can trust him.

Conclusion 

But whether or not you see justice here and now, put your hope in Jesus. Jesus came the first time to atone for your sin by suffering at the hands of evil men. But when he returns, it will not be to suffer, but to end all suffering.

How can you keep your faith when crime and corruption rise?  By looking to Jesus. Paul comforts suffering Christians by describing the return of Christ with imprecatory language: 

“Indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you, and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.” 

—2 Thessalonians 1:6–10

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!